


Before Death

by SenkiroWolf



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Reaper76 - Freeform, These are gay dads okay?, i love these two, open ended ending for reasons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-22 07:16:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7425214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SenkiroWolf/pseuds/SenkiroWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey, come on. We were young Gabe. Young and fucking stupid, honestly. No use wasting time on what ifs.” He hesitantly reached forward and touched the other's mask. The latino man leaned into the touch.<br/>“Well, I'm still fucking stupid then.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Before Death

Gabriel Reyes was bored out of his fucking mind. It had been a few months since joining Overwatch with his best friend Jack. The missions were fierce and difficult but they persevered.

The last mission had been a crap shoot. They had gotten cornered and both had taken a beating but Jack received the brunt of it, taking a hit for his friend. So the bright eyed and bushy tailed blond was in the care of Angela in medical. 

“Come on Gabe, don't give me that look. You make it look like I killed your dog.” The younger man grinned up at his commanding officer and friend.

“No, you almost killed my best friend you idiot, running in front of me like that was a dumb ass move Jack and you know it. I would have been fine!” He growled, his voice adopting that gravelly tone he got when angry.

All the latino man got in return was a pout and faux ignorance. He rolled his eyes and mussed his friend's hair. “Get some rest you cute bastard.” He enjoyed the flare up on the blond's cheeks accompanied with a searing glare. Gabriel laughed as he left the room and now wandered aimlessly about.

Boredom dug into his skin after twenty minutes of his walking and he huffed, walking to Winton’s lab. He wasn't overly fond of the monkey but he would take any entertainment at this point.

“Ah! Gabriel! Good to see you! How's Jack doing?” The gorilla always seemed overly enthusiastic and it got on Reyes’ nerves quickly.

“He's fine. Recovering from stupidity takes longer though.” Winston let out a good humoured laugh and patted Gabriel’s shoulder nearly toppling him over.

The boredom and annoyance increased tenfold as the gorilla started explaining some devices that the young man didn't care about. His interest was piqued however when he spotted something akin to a mirror against the wall. He walked forward towards it, the object seemingly glowing. “Huh.” He clicked his tongue and turned. “What’s t-” A jolt went through his body and he was flung across the suddenly darker room, landing against someone. “Mierda. ¿Que?” He mumbled and looked around.

Winston was gone as was most of the experiments he had seen earlier. He glanced around for the person he rammed into and came face to face with the barrel of a rifle. “Stand up.” A low and growly voice commanded, but with a hint of familiarity. Gabriel was confused as shit but did as he was told, as he looked up he heard a small almost inaudible gasp from the man.

White tousled hair and a large visor was a majority of the face he saw. A few wrinkles in the forehead and a scar that continued beyond his vision into the mask. “Hey, where the fuck am I?” Gabriel wasn't fond of guns being pointed at him, especially when he wasn't armed himself. “You know Winston? Giant fucking monkey who likes tinkering with shit? I was with him and then I was here, so if you could enlighten me on the situation that would be great old man.”

Silence fell for a few seconds, the latino tempted to just knock the man down and find out himself, but… “Gabe? Holy shit.” He snapped to attention then. Only Jack was allowed to call him that.

“Hey, don't fucking call me that old man, only...wait, who the fuck are you and how do you know me?” 

On the other side of the barrel, Soldier 76 debated whether he should lower his weapon or not. This could be a trick, or worse, a hallucination, but it looked so much like his friend from all those years ago. Against his better judgement he lowered his pulse rifle. He reached up and hit a button, the visor unlocking from his face. He looked up, vision suddenly gone from the support of the visor.

Gabriel paused and studied the face. It looked so familiar, but how? It hit him like a freight train. “Jack?” How the hell had he aged like this? Those scars were new and some looked like burns that continued down to his neck. He stared, dumbfounded at the older looking version of his best friend. ‘How the fuck does he still look so cute?’ 

A flush had come over the elder and he squirmed, wondering if the latino man was still staring. “What?!” He snapped, his voice a lot lower and rougher than when they were young.

Gabriel flushed as well but cleared his throat. “Okay where am I? You're supposed to be in medical with Angela and, fucking...I don't know, younger than me?”

Jack looked to where the voice was. “So you're not Reaper. This isn't a trick?” The soldier blinked even though there was no point to it, he couldn't see anything without his visor anyway.

“Who the fuck is Reaper and what kind of dumb ass name is that anyway?” What. The. Fuck. “Jack, what happened? Where am I and...mierda, are you blind?”

76 winced and put the visor quickly back on, his voice sounding much deeper with the metal in front of his mouth. “I was searching this old base and was examining that,” he motioned towards the old looking mirror, “and you came out and flew into me.” 

Winston had been working on something for Lena back when Gabe and himself had first joined Overwatch. He groaned audibly and mussed the back of his hair, a habit he always did when he was annoyed. “You always knew how to get yourself into trouble Gabe. Winston was working on a time device for Lena, remember?”

Gabriel’s mouth formed an ‘o’ and he looked embarrassed. “Uh, I usually tone the monkey out. Unless it comes down to weapons, then I listen.”

The future Jack let out a laugh, the most sincere laugh he had let slip in a long time. Gabriel felt a shiver run through him. He had this hunk to look forward to in the future? Fuck. He needed to talk to his friend about fucking as soon as he got back.

“Just go back through Gabe, I don't need you getting stuck here. That would just cause problems.” 

The latino nodded. “Right, don't wanna fuck up the future and all that by getting stuck here.” The younger Gabriel thought he saw the man wince. He looked at the weird mirror thing and turned to smile at Jack. “See you soon I guess.” Then he jumped through.

There was an eerie silence once the young soldier left. Jack sighed through his nose and looked up at the ceiling. “You just going to stand over there or talk to me?”

He felt a small whoosh of wind and saw Reaper materialize next to him. They stood silently for a few moments, just taking in each other's company. For once the other didn't reek of death and decay, so Soldier assumed he could control that smell a little since he now smelled like a pleasant camp fire.

“Why did you never tell me?” Jack turned to look at his old friend. Lover. Whatever they used to be. 

“I thought it was a dream. I was on the floor with that damn monkey over me. Then I went to see you, but you were sleeping.” Black smoke billowed up from his mask as he huffed angrily. “If I had just fucking asked more questions about what happened...fuck I didn't believe it until the explosion.” He huffed again, more smoke billowing from below the mask.

“Hey, come on. We were young Gabe. Young and fucking stupid, honestly. No use wasting time on what ifs.” He hesitantly reached forward and touched the other's mask. The latino man leaned into the touch.

“Well, I'm still fucking stupid then.” Jack gave a confused look before he felt the butt of a weapon smack into his skull. He lays there, dazed as he watched Reaper step forward to the mirror. He turned back and looked at Soldier 76. “I'm sorry Jack. But I have to try.” With that he stepped through.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! The wonderful non-fatmilk on tumblr drew an adorable picture of young Gabe meeting S76! Go check them out! Also the super sweet cyrioci on tumblr beta'd this for me!


End file.
